Morning light slipped through the gap in the curtains, laying slender streaks of light across the floor.
When Che Huiyi woke, the first thing she felt was the ache in her body—a heavy, almost disjointed sensation, as though she had been kneaded with force.
She moved her fingers and felt the cool fabric beneath her.
Then she took in her surroundings.
Torn clothes lay scattered across the bed.
Everything from the night before came flooding back.
Shameless words that struck straight at her heart, such as "You wouldn't want the Empire to impose the right of the first night on H Capital, would you?" had made the blonde beauty find pleasure in submission, and humiliation in that pleasure.
A bitter ache slowly crept into her eyes.
Che Huiyi curled up and buried her face between her knees. The torn clothing rubbed against her skin, and the unfamiliar sensations in her body made her shudder.
She bit her lip, unwilling to make a sound.
But her tears still fell.
They soaked into the brocade quilt over her knees.
Outside, birds chirped.
A new day had begun.
"Why did I have to suffer—"
"Hmm?"
Her murmuring was interrupted by a sudden male voice. Che Huiyi jerked upright and stared at the emperor as he pushed the door open and entered. Her mind went blank, and she did not dare move.
"Go make breakfast and bring it here."
"—Yes."
With her shoulders bare, Che Huiyi answered instinctively. Then she bit her slightly swollen lips and, like a wronged young wife, blushed as she climbed out of bed under the man's appreciative gaze and walked step by step toward the wardrobe—
A wash of light fell over her. In an instant, her slightly sweaty body was clean again, her fair skin looking ethereally beautiful